Technology-rich online accelerated BSN program

The Foundation's initiative, Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education (EIN), was designed to identify, evaluate and disseminate innovative strategies to increase the teaching capacity of nursing schools, as well as to promote the recruitment and retention of nurse faculty, with the long-term goal of educating more students.This project will evaluate the 12-month accelerated online Bachelor's to BSN program (ACCEL) at the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. ACCEL is a technology-rich program, which relies upon on-campus as well as remote sites for didactic and clinical education, engages faculty in teaching courses in one to six-week blocks, and uses online curricula and specially trained clinical preceptors. The impact of the intervention on three EIN outcomes will be assessed: teaching productivity, faculty work life, and quality of education (including the breadth of education measures provided by the NPO). Outcome measures will be compared among the intervention and comparison schools. Deliverables will include: (1) a comprehensive report of the evidence of the program's effectiveness in achieving the intended EIN outcomes; (2) an analysis of return on investment; (3) guidelines for replication including challenges to implementation and strategies for addressing them; and (4) a comprehensive set of dissemination activities designed for a range of local, regional, and national audiences